Red and Blue horses

Probably painted in the 1980s, Red and Blue Horses captures one of John Young’s most celebrated themes—galloping horses beneath a radiant sun.

During this period, Young often explored lively subjects such as children, carousels, birds, and dynamic equine scenes. He saw the “Joy of life” as his focus.

Here, bold red and blue tones energize the composition, conveying motion, vitality, and the artist’s unmistakable style.

Many museums holding John Young’s works feature this type of galloping horse imagery, underscoring its place as one of his most iconic subjects.

John Chin Young 容澤泉 (1909–1997) was born in Honolulu to immigrant parents from China. He displayed an interest in the arts from an early age and was largely self-taught, except for calligraphy lessons he received in Chinese language school as a child. His signature gestural paintings were influenced by this background, reinterpreted through the lens of Abstract Expressionism. He is best known for his Chinese painting-like depictions of horses, paintings of children, and abstractions.

Young was also an avid traveler and collector who saw these activities as extensions of his artistic practice. Well-recognized for his philanthropy, he long dreamed of initiating a museum that would further art education and benefit the community, which he donated to the Honolulu Museum of Art and the University of Hawaii at Manoa as the John Young Museum.His work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Art, and is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, de Young Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, and Santa Barbara Museum.